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Defense Secretary Jim Mattis Out After Syria Withdrawal

President Donald Trump announced on Twitter that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis will retire in February 2019. Mattis submitted a letter to Trump saying the president deserves a secretary of defense with views more close to his on things like alliances and building an international order. The move comes after Trump abruptly announced that U.S. troops would be withdrawn from Syria, where they’d been fighting ISIS.

(Published Thursday, Dec. 20, 2018)

President Donald Trump's band of "my generals" is disbanding.

A political novice, Trump took office nearly two years ago gushing about the retired military leaders who had agreed to serve in his administration: retired four-star Marine Corps Gen. Jim Mattis as defense secretary, and John Kelly, another retired four-star Marine general, heading the Department of Homeland Security.

Flynn pleaded guilty to the federal crime of lying to the FBI and had been scheduled to be sentenced this week. Prosecutors even cited his extensive cooperation in recommending that he receive between zero and six months in prison as punishment. But the presiding judge abruptly postponed Tuesday's sentencing after telling the court he was disgusted by Flynn's crime of lying to the FBI and raised the unexpected prospect of sending the retired Army lieutenant general to prison after all.

A federal judge delayed the sentencing of President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who has admitted to lying to the FBI, on Tuesday after chiding Flynn for the seriousness of the crime.

(Published Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018)

JOHN KELLYAs homeland security secretary, Kelly's efforts to combat illegal crossings at the Mexico border eventually caught the eye of Trump, who had campaigned on keeping people from entering the U.S. illegally. Trump often praised Kelly during public appearances and ultimately looked Kelly's way after tiring of Reince Priebus as chief of staff.

Retired Gen. John Kelly now in charge at the White House as chief of staff. "He will do spectacular job I have no doubt," President Donald Trump said. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders added Monday that, "General Kelly has full authority to operate within the White House and all staff will report to him."

(Published Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2017)

But things between Trump and Kelly quickly soured, with reports of Trump bristling at the orderly processes the general imposed on the freewheeling president and White House operations at large.

Not politically savvy, Kelly didn't help himself, either. He publicly questioned Trump's understanding of immigration, clashed with a Democratic congresswoman and mishandled the case of a White House official whose ex-wives accused him of domestic violence during their marriages, among other missteps.

Speculation abounded that Kelly would be fired or resign. Over the summer, Kelly told senior aides he had agreed to Trump's request to stick around through 2020. But Trump announced this month that Kelly, in fact, would leave at the end of December.

President Donald Trump told reporters Saturday that White House Chief of Staff John Kelly will be leaving at the end of the year.

(Published Saturday, Dec. 8, 2018)

JIM MATTISAs the administration began, Trump openly gushed about his respect for Mattis, repeatedly calling him "Mad Dog," even though Mattis dislikes the nickname.

But the two quickly clashed on major policy decisions. Mattis disagreed with Trump's assertion during the campaign that torture worked, and the secretary voiced support for NATO and similar alliances that Trump repeatedly criticized.

The two also were initially divided on the future of the Afghanistan war, with Trump complaining about its cost and arguing for withdrawal. Mattis and others ultimately persuaded Trump to pour additional resources and troops into the conflict to press toward a resolution.

Further, Trump chafed at the Pentagon's slow response to his order to ban transgender people from military service, an effort now stalled by multiple legal challenges.

It is with great sadness that I was informed of the resignation of General Mattis.

He is one of the great military leaders in American history.

He should be proud of the service he has rendered to President @realDonaldTrump and our nation.

I hope we who have supported this administrations initiatives over the last two years can persuade the President to choose a different direction. But we must also fulfill our constitutional duty to conduct oversight over the policies of the executive branch. 2/2

The House is indebted to Secretary Mattis for his service. With our country’s defense in his hands, we have become a safer America at home, and a more commanding force abroad. His patriotism and grit are matched only by his humility and graciousness. pic.twitter.com/5vgtUgYvhM

This is scary. Secretary Mattis has been an island of stability amidst the chaos of the Trump administration. As we’ve seen with the President’s haphazard approach to Syria, our national defense is too important to be subjected to the President’s erratic whims. https://t.co/9qPluSGLUc

Scty Mattis has been an outstanding Scty of Defense but most of all I want to compliment him for 44 yrs of service in the Marine Corps/for his ldrship there & for the sacrifice he made defending our freedoms

More recently, Trump disregarded Mattis' choice of Gen. David Goldfein, the Air Force chief, to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The current chairman, Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, is set to retire in October. Trump instead tapped Gen. Mark Milley, the chief of the Army.

Mattis has deliberately kept a low public profile, striving not to make headlines that would incur Trump's ire. But he told Trump in a letter Thursday that he was leaving because "you have a right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours."

Trump announced the pick from a sofa in the ornate living room of his Palm Beach, Florida, estate, praising the then-active-duty Army lieutenant general as a man of "tremendous talent and tremendous experience." McMaster had commanded troops in both U.S. wars in Iraq and was a prominent military strategist.

But he failed to develop a personal rapport with Trump, who was said to be bored by McMaster's long-winded briefing style.

McMaster's influence in high-level decision-making began to wane after Trump increasingly began to rely on advice from Kelly and Mattis, who had pushed for McMaster's ouster. His fate appeared sealed after Trump dumped his first secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, a McMaster ally, in March.

Soon after, Trump announced he was replacing McMaster with John Bolton, a former U.N. ambassador and Fox News commentator.

President Donald Trump’s national security adviser H.R. McMaster will resign and be replaced by John Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Trump made the staffing announcement in a tweet on March 22.

(Published Thursday, March 22, 2018)

One instance involved a telephone call between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. McMaster had briefed Trump before the call and his team had drafted instructions telling Trump not to congratulate Putin on his recent re-election victory.